Traitors
by greatfallenangel
Summary: Harry leaves the Dursley's possibly for the last time after exhibiting some rather strange new powers. Lots of referenace to the order of the phoenix. Not slash powerfull Harry. Scenes of torture, rated M for a reason
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Harry Potter in anyway shape or form and never will, this will be the discalimer i use for any future stories and as a result this will be the only story or chapter you will ever see it on.

On with the story:

Darkness flowed majestically over the sleeping city. Lights glittered from a billion different places shining over the harsh reality of modern life. Cars moved dolefully along twisting highways and down narrow back alleys bringing a non-life to the scene. Streetlamps glimmered trying to find their place in the ever reaching darkness.

Reaching up-

Forever up, to heaven.

The night was peaceful, sleeping.

A low rumble washed over the city bathing it forever in an old man's rest. Dust wisped from its place to once again take flight on the world. The rumble grew and buildings began to jiggle finding their rhythm, their dance a soothing caress from a lover long forgotten. The world growled once more, hypnotically, before-

The earth split, tearing a huge chuck from the main road works of Los Angeles. Buildings trembled no longer in the embrace of a lover's tender caress but a maniac's fury. Windows slammed against their panes desperate to be free, they cracked, smashed. The roads rose, tearing themselves free of their placements to crack into stores and apartment blocks that had once been as brothers.

A city trembled watching the devastation unfold before a million eyes. Buildings fell to there knees, fear and panic gripped at the hearts of the people but all where to afraid to move, the behemoth of terror rose before them-

An earth that was not weary to distribute punishment to those it saw as infidels, was the worst fear of many of those standing back to watch as the drama unfold.

Cars where thrown into the air by the ferocity of the unfolding power. Alarms squealed desperate for some attention, some moral imagination of rescue, of saviour.

Subway trains crashed vehemently against their concrete confines, people screamed. Those who had not perished in the crash would suffer and scream for death before the end like so many.

The quake rose, a huge expansion of energy that toppled buildings, destroyed homes, crushed cars and a desperate accompaniment of wails and screams that would echo into infinity. An apocalypse, the bleeding shriek of eternal human suffering.

Across the world, hundreds of thousands of miles away a city awoke from a tender nights sleep in the embrace of darkness now overshadowed by a burning sun. Men and Women walked purposefully to work, children played in the streets basking in the welcoming heat. A shudder bobbed the small ships that lay unused in the harbour, a gentle rhythm that was quickly adopted and played upon by the boats themselves. Small waves lapped gently at the harbour walls bringing a sea breeze that was as welcome as the burning sun. The shudder grew, tossing the fishing boats and bobbing the great oil tankers that rested in place.

The screech of splintered wood could be heard as some of the small boats crashed against the harbour wall, protesting heavily against the heavy metal chains that bound them in place.

The earth groaned once more and crashed the tankers into the wall, splintering metal and concrete as the quake ripped away the bulk to unleash a torrent of water upon the newly awakened city.

Tarmac buckled thrusting itself dangerously toward the sun in a final act of desperation. Showers of glass rained down on unsuspecting victims, a merciless hail of death and pain. The water crashed down onto the heavily populated city streets crashing into office blocks, crunching away at the streets that where not broken in the upsurge. Market stalls where washed away in the fray and fury, screaming and blood washed the streets as all fell before the wave's ferocity. The tankers that had washed free of their confines ripped through businesses with their knife edged prows. Concrete, twisted steel mutilated plastic fell to the foaming depths of an impossible occurrence, the once desert city, bathed at one time only by the running water in homes-

Lays in ruin under the iron clad fist of fathomless depths thought to extend far below the city's once proud tram system. There where no trickles to be heard, no gentle tweets of birds as they frolicked in flight, no laughter to be heard.

Screams sliced the air, ripping through it with all the ferocity of a lion killing its prey, but not the same. These screams held no pleasure, no welcome feast after the thrill of a successful hunt. These screams where animal yes, and yet they where not of a lion, they where the prey yet to be feasted upon by the tidal surge that consumed the city. It was a desperate plea, a will to die felt by all those left alive.

Fish swim in their new home amongst office chairs, computers, filing cabinets, steel and concrete. Such things had never before been seen by such simple creatures as these, a new challenge perhaps to swim with the body's of foreign masters, that had for so long polluted the sea with chemical piss.

A strange role reversal.

A plea goes from many to whichever deity they believe in but it all comes to the same message:

"Why has god forsaken me?"

A shadowed figure sits in the darkness wrapping the black cloth tighter around his body with spider like fingers. The steady drip of a leaking pipe can be heard of in another room, he pays it no attention it was a job for those far inferior to himself. A glass sits at his side, a red liquid rippling slightly in the gloom. Patience is a virtue, not in this place here is a place where thing's are done quickly, efficiently, with purpose, to a desired end there is no room for the slow or the weak.

There is only power and those too weak to seek it.

The memory rolled across his mind, tumbleweed in the grand scheme of things. Voldermort was not one to sit and dwell on the past, only the future mattered, and their where ways of finding that.

The red liquid made its way to the mans thin lips burning them in the fire of alcohol. He smacked his lips revelling in the feeling it provided, a certain pain. One not despised but required to maintain a certain sense of life, even for one who had for so long avoided death and yet looked it a thousand times in the face and always smiled back. The door creaked open spewing forth a small man, dressed in shabby black robes that hung far past his ankles. A glimmer of silver flashed but it was quickly retrieved into the confines of darkness.

"It is done master; those infidels have felt your presence." The man cowered falling into a bow to kiss the hem of his master's robes before suddenly retreating to the door in fear of an unknown fury. Voldermorts features contorted into a would be smile on the face of a man before relaxing his hold on the glass and setting it down.

"Very good Wormtail and what of the girl is she ready." He said softly barley above a whisper. Wormtail cowered slightly and bowed his head in answer.

"She is my lord; she will do as you ask." Voldermorts smile widened and a shriek of laughter escaped his lips. Wormtail scurried into the corner and hid his face under the frayed arm of his robes, silently he began to sob, fear and loathing overtook him breaking him into a shadow of his former self.

"Los Angeles lays in ruins today after it was ravaged this morning by an earthquake of unknown magnitude. The San Andreas fault is thought to have taken part in this catastrophic event however seismologists say that they have detected no vibrations from the fault which would have amounted to such an event as this." The news reporter announced as a couple in their early forties sat down to watch. "Other parts of the world have also been ravaged by similar events: but none more so than China which is currently underwater after an earthquake some four mile out to sea formed a tidal wave that has ripped the city from its foundations leaving millions dead and the survivors stranded."

The woman gasped wrapping a hand over her mouth until the feeling passed. A lanky boy walked through from the kitchen, depression and sadness etched onto the contours of an otherwise handsome face. He stood quite calmly watching as the woman finished her report before walking back into the kitchen to finish his chores.

"Such ferocity and all for a scrap of information that has sealed his fate to mine." Harry said quietly wiping grease from a pan and letting the thoughts whip through his mind to be replaced once again with thoughts of death and the pain that had led to nothing, the swirl of red and black that had always dominated his soul but never with such cruelty burned at his heart.

_Will I die for this? _He whispered quietly in his head fearing the answer he would find. He knew what it would be; all logic screamed at him telling him it would be so and yet the answer came without fear, without a question of a shadow of doubt.

_We will fight, to whatever end! It has been done before and will be done again. Our fate is sealed it seems but not to those who look past the simple delusions of life and death._

This notion from his shadow, his twin, his soul demon gave Harry a strength in death a foul proclamation of hope that flickered like a dying candle it was comforting and at the same time crippling.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry rolled from his sleep, falling to the floor with a boom. His owl shrieked in the corner cursing at him with big yellow eyes.

"I know. I'm sorry alright." He whispered quickly silencing the snowy wonder. He moved from the floor cursing under his breath, wishing madly for his demon to return so he would have some company other than a snowy owl that thought he was crazy.

Wind whipped through an open window bringing a chill to the room. Harry smiled at the cool breeze that fitted his mood perfectly, goose bumps erupted over his skin throbbing for warmth he didn't need. The world had always seemed to revolve around him in someway or another whether he was at school or in Diagon Alley people stopped and stared or whispered behind his back, in this place in a home filled with muggles no less, he was his own person. Rules lived in a different world to the one he currently inhabited, as did the stares of wonder and fear. In this place surrounded by the people he had loathed and hated he was as close to normal as it would ever come for Harry.

A gentle rap at the window turned Harry's head coming to rest with a certain contempt on the brown owl that was now scrabbling furiously at the window pane, cursing squawks screeching from its beak, a desperate plea for attention. Harry undid the catch and the bird flew clumsily into the room tossing a brown envelope from its leg before soaring off through the still open window. Harry watched as it sawed away into the bright morning sun still screeching a ghoul's note. The letter lay on his bed, there was no writing on the front but Harry knew immediately that it would be from Dumbledore an invitation to stay at Sirius' house for the rest of the summer no doubt. He undid the wax seal and opened the letter out:

_Dear Harry, _

_It would be a short summer without seeing you and your 'colourful' aggravations again. Therefore I shall be coming to collect you from your current place of residence tonight at seven o clock sharp. I hope to see you are fully packed and ready for a long journey, in these times apperation has become shall we say less then safe. I hope you are doing well I have much to show you upon my arrival._

_Faithfully,_

_Albus Dumbledore._

Harry crushed the letter in his fist.

'Colourful aggravations' he thought 'What the hell is he playing at mocking the death of my godfather.'

His teeth ground together a vivid image of loathing and hatred for a man he had once so much respected now mocking the last piece of a destroyed family. He threw the letter on the floor watching as it set on fire. As Harry's fury grew so did the flames, spitting at the walls of the room burning the carpet in a fit of anger. As Harry watched the flames burn away at the floor, the walls he began to think of his mother and father and what it would be like to have a normal life. Tears flowed down his face burning his cheeks and fuelling his fury.

_We don't have the luxury of normality._ A voice whispered in the back of his mind. Harry exploded; the fire wrenched the room open spitting its liquor from room to room breathing blue flames at the wallpaper that fell to the floor to burn quicker a dead weight in the presence of such ferocity. Glass shattered falling from their panes, wood and timber supports snapped and cracked when the fire reached then. Falling onto the walls and crushing them easily. Amidst all the destruction Harry stood in the centre of his room, white eyes gleaming in the flurry of blue and red that brought much greater things crashing down. His shirt tore as wood fell, a hail of knives bringing death to their creator. His arms opened wide and head lolled back onto strong shoulders. The fire stopped, it didn't move the crackling ceased and for a second the world didn't spin. Harry's head lolled back into his chest and a final scream of fury left his mouth before:

The flames exploded ripping the walls away, atomising concrete and steel. Wood was disintegrated torn from its place on earth. Flames spiralled a crushed pile of rubble, the only remnants of a fancy home in a nice street. Harry stood broken and torn in a pile of rubble, dust and blood fought for precedence on his clothes creating a pink that didn't mach the day or the fury that had otherwise been employed. His breath ragged and harsh after the huge explosion that seemed to have destroyed everything around him and he thanked god that his aunt, uncle and cousin weren't home at the time.

He moved along the streets a shadow of his self floating silently down alleys and back streets making his way steadily to London and the freedom it entailed. A long coat hung around his shoulders, base trailing the damp ground below his feet, one of the only things that had not been burned down in the fire. His face was hidden behind the hood that hung low obscuring the top half of his face, Harry liked it just fine, it suited his mood and fit his plans. His battered sneakers trod the wet pavement wearily he had been walking since the house had been destroyed and he had come to his senses. His trunk lay in the pile of rubble and after several attempts to move it he abandoned it thinking the order would find it when they did their daily checks; he took only what he could carry easily. His wand and a small bag of money where the only things he carried apart from the clothes on his back, and they where the only things he would need.

He rounded a corner, feeling his way rather than trying to see through a lowered hood. The wind whistled eerily through the trees and the moon cast fear inspiring shadows to the ground. The gentle glow of something other than moon light made Harry glance up, a bus, one that would take him to London. Harry couldn't believe his luck; he hurled himself up and onto the double Decker which was by no means as nice or as lethal as the Knight bus. An elderly man stood at the back an arm wrapped around the pole that joined the bottom and top floor. He held out a shrivelled hand waiting for Harry' payment and Harry obliged, quickly dropping a five into the outstretched palm before making his way gleefully to a nearby seat and collapsing onto it with a groan of mingled exhaustion and pain.


	3. Chapter 3

The screeching of brakes wrenched Harry from his peaceful sleep. Eyes gummed shut he rolled in place trying to figure out what was going on. Boots thudded on the floor nearby pulling Harry's eyes instantly open to see the shrivelled form of the conductor from the night before.

"Last stop son" He said kindly resting a withered hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry nodded dumbly and got up from the seat flexing his cramped muscles quickly before wondering out into the blazing sun. He checked his pockets quickly, remembering the one piece of advice his uncle had ever given him.

"No matter where you go or what you do people will rob you so always keep your things close, because I don't want to buy you new ones" The words still rang in his ears a constant reminder that he would take to the grave, which by all accounts shouldn't be long from now. He gave a hollow laugh at the thought: a future that had been decided for him by a prophet who he had always believed to be a fake, then worked upon by an old man and finally decided by himself after Sirius' death. A predicted future was no way for a fifteen year old boy to have to live especially in fear of turning a corner and having to fight your way out of an impossible situation. The thoughts drifted his mind clouding him from the more important things he had to do today like get to Diagon Alley.

He walked down the streets occasionally stopping to ask directions but never showing his face, it was bad enough that Dumbledore would know he had escaped by now, he didn't need anyone else on his case and it wasn't his style to do things simply either. He took his next left and saw what he had been searching for.

The leaky cauldron. It seemed to radiate warmth and familiarity to him but he had little time for such sentiments. He pressed on opening the huge door before him and keeping his hood low in the smoke covered room, goblins chattered greedily in one corner hoarse whispers meeting Harry's ears stealing away snatches of a conversation that made no sense to him. A warlock sat in one corner eyeing the rest of the crowd suspiciously Harry assumed he had been placed in the tavern by the ministry further proof of a world corrupted by the taint of evil. Shaking his head Harry walked outside and tapped the brick that lead him back into the arms of the magical world. People bustled around hurrying quickly from one shop to the next carrying armfuls of bags, even the younger ones weren't moving as slowly as they usually would inspecting the queddich supplies and so forth. A heavily looking man with a scruffy beard ran forward clutching the front of his black robes. He screamed something incomprehensible before running past and knocking Harry to the ground, moments later Harry saw several aurors following the mans path.

_Death eater scum. _Harry thought viscously, once more checking his pockets to make sure nothing had slipped out of them. Hands reached out in front of his face making him look up to see.

Hermione.

He was caught there was no denying the fact and the face wasn't easily mistaken after four years of friendship. Harry growled to himself before pushing himself to his feet ignoring Hermione's outstretched hands. She gave him a look which he also ignored before walking away to the marble building that stood proudly in front of him.

"No hello for your best friend then." She yelled making Harry freeze to see the young woman looking at him with a piecing gaze that stabbed his heart. A knot formed in his stomach as he decided whether to turn around and talk to her or walk off and disappear. Eventually he gave into guilt and turned around regretting his decision instantly when he saw the look on her face.

"Hey Mi" He said quickly flashing a smile before once again turning on his heal and walking away towards Gringotts.

"You know Dumbledore's pretty pissed about what you did wrecking your house like that and without alerting the ministry." She said grabbing his arm and walking alongside him. Harry turned pulling her arm away from his and watching silently as the grin on her face died, he scowled and walked on.

"I was sent to bring you back" She yelled after him, "One way or another." Harry burst into laughter turning and walking back over to her.

"You want to play bitch. I don't have time for your stupid games I'm leaving here on my own and if I have to put you in saint Mungo's to do it I will." Her face went white as she scrabbled for words to make him come to his senses and make him return.

"Remus isn't coping Harry he needs someone to talk to, you he wants to talk to you." Harry didn't even flinch at the sound of his name he had thought he would but there was no emotion for him to find. He hadn't cried his tears for Sirius but Remus had, he was coping, apparently better than Harry. He couldn't bring himself to round on Hermionie again. Every time he did it was like tearing a small piece of himself away, it crushed his spirit and he was on his very last legs as it were anyway. He strode on powerfully leaving Hermionie to shed her own tears. It was better this way, for her to think of him as a betrayer of the soul he thought quickly. That way she wouldn't have to find out he was as good as dead anyway and even if she did she wouldn't care now. A grin flashed across his lips but he removed it quickly. There was no semblance of joy in his life, not now and he forced himself not to delude himself with such crude visions of emotions he had yet to feel and was doubtful he ever would. He moved soundlessly across the grey concrete, not even the dull thud of his shoes dare intrude upon his fury. He passed through the great doors of the entrance hall to Gringotts. Yells could be heard from all around, goblins directing one another to vaults all in a language that was lost on Harry.

A goblin wearing green slacks that hung loosely from his slender frame motioned Harry across with a bony finger.

"I want to make a withdrawal." Harry said politely, resting his arms on the marble made table that the goblin was working at.

"Does the young master have his key?" The goblin questioned flicking a forked tongue briefly between its needle sharp teeth. Harry's fake smile faltered, _Fuck_ he thought desperately scrabbling at the pockets of his jeans trying furiously to pull out something he knew wasn't there. He shook his head after a while. Stupidity and frustration where at the forefront of his mind and he had no one t blame but himself, he looked up to see the frail goblin smiling down on him, and yet it wasn't arrogance but compassion something he rarely saw these days and in the eyes of a goblin it was a truly incredible sight.

"The young master could take his trial." The goblin said with a grin playing at its withered features. "It is a test used to determine your rights." The goblin answered reading Harry's look of confusion impassively. "They are not used much in these times but because you come from one of the longest lines of surviving pure bloods there are bound to be vaults that belong to you, sir." Harry frowned. He had never heard of such a thing not even from Hermionie who would surely have researched such a thing. He drooped his head and weighed his options. On one hand he needed money to live to get away from all those who wanted so much from him and on the other this test sounded dangerous even with so few words from the goblin something didn't seem to fit.

"Fine." He said in the end. "I will take this test; tell me what I have to do." The goblin bowed its head then spoke softly and with great care.

"Follow me young master I have much to show you." He led the way out through a small door near the back of the entrance hall Harry had never noticed before. It was dark here and it smelled strongly of human and animal waste.

"What is this place?" Harry gasped as he tried to contain his breath and rid himself of the horrid smell, his eyes began to water and he gasped for air the smell entering his lungs briefly. It flowed through him like a vial of poison intruding upon his other senses until he couldn't bare it any longer.

"This is the place of your trial young master." The goblin answered politely, paying no attention to Harry's immediate discomfort. The smell seemed not to bother the goblin who breathed it in deeply before continuing. "If you would speak you last name then please sir"

"Potter." Harry breathed in quickly making his voice a dull squeak. At once torch brackets sprang to life, licking playfully against their metal confines. The smell seemed to vanish and Harry saw for the first time the magnificence of the room. Every inch was white marble that gleamed proudly in the candlelight a living testimony that the goblins really where the richest peoples. But something didn't fit the room was bare. There where no huge piles of gold, no jewels, no paintings nothing just the white marble that surrounded him and was starting to make him feel uneasy.

"That was my trial wasn't it?" Harry asked uncertainly looking to the small goblin for reassurance.

"No little one your trial is just beginning, look there!" The goblin said happily pointing to the other end of the room which was a considerable distance away. Harry looked but couldn't see anything the gleaming marble was screwing with his eyes making it difficult to tell grey specks from white never mind whatever was in the corner. He blinked trying to make his eyes refocus; a golden speck caught his eye.

"What is that?" he asked frantically. He turned to where the goblin was standing but he had gone leaving Harry alone against what, he had no idea what the hell this thing was and he had come here of his own free will.

_Yeah great idea Harry_ Taunted his mind. The speck was beginning to grow but he still couldn't make out what it was. He reached in his pocket for his wand which didn't seem as helpful now. He held it in a defensive stance Remus had once taught him, trying to calm himself Harry focused his mind to the task at hand. _Figure out what it is _He told himself _then you can figure out how to beat it. _He allowed his breathing to slow, relaxing him into a state of awareness that he wouldn't have remembered had it not been for Dudley's constant annoying taunts of how he used it in boxing. The speck moved closer and Harry could make out what it was now though it didn't relax him much.

_It's a fucking lion _Screamed his brain. Spells ran through his mind though he couldn't think of any that where a blaringly obvious way to defeat the huge creature. It came ever closer pawing at the ground and eyeing Harry with a certain amusement that seemed plausible amidst its razor sharp fangs. Harry watched and waited.

Then strangely the great beast lowered itself onto the ground, resting its golden fur against the gleaming white marble. Harry relaxed, uncoiling from his defensive stance to become confused.

_Why am I not fighting for my life?_ He thought wildly. The thought ran through his mind time and time again as he watched the lion yawning and producing fangs the length of Harry's forearm, it did anything but make him feel relaxed but he wasn't exactly defensive either. A crack exploded behind him Harry spun to see the frail form of the goblin once more.

"Follow me young one. You have proved what many of us foresaw!" The goblin said quickly as the lion suddenly stopped its yawn to look directly at the small creature.

"And what was that!" Harry yelled, unable to contain himself. "That I don't like lions being in the same room as me."

"You should young master." The goblin said politely seemingly taking little notice of Harry's furious outburst. Harry gawped at the goblin unable to stop the confused look from forcing its way onto his face. "That lion was placed there by your great grandfather and as some of us had guessed you are the last heir of Gryffindor."

"What the hell are you going on about you hopped up little piece of shit. You put me in the same room as a fucking lion."

"The lion would never have harmed you. As I explained it is your great grandfathers and rightfully yours. If you would please follow me I shall show you to your vault." The goblin walked away seemingly undeterred by Harry's onslaught of abuse. He followed cursing under his breath that a swift end would meet this goblin.

"Harry, Harry quick its Ron he's been hurt we need to get to St. Mungo's now."

"Hermionie how did you get down here?" He asked when he saw her face clearly in the murky light.

"No time Harry here quickly take this portkey with me." Harry had no time to think and it took him less time than that to realise that Ron was more important than escaping from his life, he reached out and touched the edge of the portkey which in this case was an old bicycle wheel with the tip of his fingers. The world stopped instantaneously and then began to spin.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4 **_

The room was dimly lit by candles that hung in torch brackets on all sides. Harry glanced around quickly looking for Ron or anyone that he may recognise but there was no-one and this certainly wasn't how he remembered St. Mungo's to be, there was no white, only greys and blacks that looked strangely out of place to him. No nurses hurried to there stations or off to find patients, in fact there was no-one. All around all he could see was darkness, the faint smell of smoke and rotting flesh found its way into his nostrils making him want to vomit but he held it back.

"Hermionie where are we?" He asked into the gloom which didn't seem a very wise course of action to him but he had little choice. He felt a hand wrap around his own and squeeze it tightly.

"Come on Harry quick we need to get moving, you know those doctors there not very patient." Harry followed without question as she led him through a small door and out into a huge room lit by green flames that cascaded violently from wall to wall. People scurried around the room like rats with their heads down. A single huge chair sat in the middle; it was ornately decorated with snakes, brilliantly crafted onto the arm rests as realistic as those on the way down to the chamber of secrets Harry recalled.

"We are here master." Hermionie's voice echoed through the chamber as a giants chilling Harry to the bone.

He knew he had been betrayed and that he was no more in a hospital than Hagrid could fly.

"Well done little one you shall be greatly rewarded." Hissed a voice from deep within the shadows, Harry's scar flared with pain but he quickly forced it aside. There was need for concentration here and pain was far too much a distraction.

"The terms we agreed Lord, they are all I require." Hermionie said fluidly although Harry could sense the fear in her voice. It rang like a sword across his soul and he loved it. She deserved all the suffering in the world as of now and so help his God, Harry would be the one to bring it.

"Very well." The hiss was stronger this time, closer. The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood on end warding him of the danger of his situation.

"_A little obvious now." _He thought viscously while eyeing Hermionie with contempt. His hand reached down into his pocket where his wand lay undisturbed and untouched by foul hands. He wrapped his fingers gratefully around his favourite piece of wood and pulled it slowly away from his pants. Hermionie looked across to Harry with eyes streaming tears down her face before slowly, silently forming the words. _"I'_m sorry _Harry I had no choice." _She walked away almost silently across the stone floor leaving Harry alone with his arch-nemesis, the greatest evil to walk the world in seven centuries-

Lord Voldermort.

He stood out of the shadows eyeing Harry with supreme distaste. His long bony fingers curled around his wand and a filthy grin spread across his snakelike features making Harry grimace. Those long fingers came up and pointed the wand directly at Harry's chest.

"Come on then, your life's ambition to kill me. Well why don't you give it a go." Harry mocked, he knew it wasn't the best approach but he was completely out classed here and there was no denying it. Every trick in the book he had used to get away from Dumbledore and the Order of the phoenix and he had walked straight into Voldermort's grasp albeit with a little help from Hermionie. It made him smile; there was no denying the irony of it, walking away from friends to be slaughtered by an enemy. Sometimes the world is clouded by the people who only want to protect you. Harry saw the truth in there actions now more than ever.

"Well." He whispered to himself, "This look's like the end, at least I'll go down fighting like my father did." The notion brought him comfort and strength.

A demon squatting at the back of his mind, hidden by the shadows of his soul suddenly uncoiled itself and slipped towards the forefront of Harry's mind.

"_Leave him to me." _The demon whispered softly into his mind, the voice echoed from its deepest reaches and Harry heard him without wanting to. "_I shall banish his soul to the furthest reaches of hell." _The voice came without fear, nor contempt despite what was spoken. There was a thrill, a profound joy in the thought of battle.

"No" Harry thought viciously. "This is my fight; I don't need demons to beat him." The beast in Harry's mind roared, animal fury spitting from spiked teeth in a last ditch attempt to wrench Harry's mind free and to set itself loose. Harry screamed as pain ripped through his mind and Voldermort watched with little satisfaction. He knew it wasn't the boy's scar that was killing him, that was his and he could control it to his every whim, but this. This was different the boy was screaming, holding his head and yet for the first time in his life Voldermort had no idea why.

"Potter stand and stop screaming." Voldermort hissed in contempt. His wand still pointed at the boy's chest but he had no inclination to perform spells while he writhed in pain that Voldermort didn't have to pursue.

Harry's demon screamed for the last time and laid itself in the forefront of his mind. Watching Voldermort through slitted eyes. He picked himself up, regaining his composure quickly and eying Voldermort with savage fury gleaming in his eyes. The snakelike face before him contorted into a would be smile on the face of a mortal and flicked the wand casually. Jets of red and purple light rushed towards Harry. He dived across the floor and felt the clothes he wore, tear on the rough surface. Other spells where already tearing through the air towards him, he rolled quickly but one caught him in the chest and kicked him into the wall 20 meters away. Blood trickled down a split lip, and ribs groaned under weight he didn't know he had. His body contorted in a flash of pain, before he shrugged it away and faced Voldermort once more.

"That hurt didn't it Potter" The snake whispered though he heard it perfectly. Harry's face changed from a grimace to hell fury. He yelled spells subconsciously and Voldermort raised his silver magical shield, as he had against Dumbledore. They bounced away without leaving a scratch and blew holes in the walls. Harry's blood boiled and his mind overflowed with thought's of Voldermort's death, spells, hexes and curses ran across his mind seconds before they where called out of his wand only to smash into Tom's gleaming shield and make their voices herd as crashes and explosions before being silenced and Harry was forced to repeat himself once more. The demon snarling but quite for the time lay itself around a memory of something Harry could not recall.

Suddenly the demon in Harry's skull tore through his mind and opened his eyes on the field of battle for the first time. Red and black glazed the demon's eyes as he watched Voldermort raise his wand; a brilliant flash of green illuminated the room as no other spell had managed. A low snarl escaped Harry's lips as he moved in a blurry of speed to escape the magic.

"Scared Potter, your father was before I killed him, he begged for my mercy in the end and offered your life for his own." Harry's anger flared to even greater heights and the demon controlling his action's raised the wand into the air. No incantation was spoken but a great beam of periwinkle blue light erupted from the tip and bathed the room in its magnificent ambience. Voldermort hissed as the light burned at his eyes. Harry's face however had contorted into a smile, a grim line of fury and loathing that had fused to become as a demon's smile. His face darkened as he watched Voldermort writhe, the brilliant silver shield of his still raised in a feeble attempt to halt the suffering, and pain that Harry's fury had burnt into him.

"Stop it Potter." He snarled waving his wand through the air in an arc not dissimilar to that of a rainbow's. Harry's breath caught in his chest when darkness rained once more in the chamber. Voldermort had cast a dementor's power over the room, blocking sight and obscuring sound.

_How did he do this? _Harry thought furiously to himself. The demon at once roared in Harry's mind obscuring his own sense of mortality and pushing him further from the forefront of his thoughts to crouch somewhere at the back, in a dark corner like an abused dog left to whimper for it's own survival so Harry had become the victim in his own mind.

The wand in Harry's hand moved through the air as a blur of light, echoing whip cracks around the room. A blaze of red cut across the scene and collided with Voldermort's shield cracking it in half and throwing its owner across the room.

"Now that one hurt didn't it Tom" Harry mocked moving closer to the crumpled form of his arch nemesis watching as the darkened form twisted against the black stone of the floor. Harry lowered his wand to fix a point at Voldermort's chest, he could feel his heart hammering against his ribs to the point of pain, but it didn't matter there was only this, nothing else mattered for the moment except finishing this evil once and for all.

"Avada Ked..." He began, watching Voldermort for any signs of change. Then Tom raised his wand in a last ditch attempt, purple light screamed from the tip catching the boy in it's wake and tossing him like a rag doll into the wall.

Harry heard the cruch as his ribs shattered, and his head split against the concrete. He fell to the floor; the demon of his soul vanished away leaving a boy to the fate of the greatest dark wizard in over a centaury-

"Voldermort." He croaked raising his wand in a limp hand barley inches from the floor, before darkness overcame the light and Harry was forced into unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

Harry slowly opened his eyes and let them slowly adjust to the gloom around him. His entire body ached, he assumed from the duel he had, had with Voldermort. He tried to move his body but a screech of metal on stone stopped him as he scrunched up his eyes to stop the noise. When the last of the echoes had filled the room he opened them once more and tried to remember where he was, or what was going on. When no answers came to mind he put his head to the task of finding a way out of the shackles that bound him to the wall.

"Good morning Potter." A voice hissed across the chamber, Harry knew who it was instantly. He would never be able to forget that voice. The one that had until so recently plagued his dreams and embodied his nightmares. Voldermort, for the second time in two days Harry found himself facing the dark lord, with the only exception being that this time he was completely defenceless. There was no wand in his pocket and his hands where very closely bound to the brick wall behind him. No amount of good fortune was going to save him this time. The prophecy was about to be fulfilled it seemed in Voldermort's favour.

"Oh no, no little Potter. Have no illusions I am not about to kill you. At least not yet. I have something to ask you first. When we duelled two day's ago you showed magical talent that rivalled my own, I wonder how where you able to do this." The voice chilled Harry's soul, he despised and loathed it and yet now Harry was puzzled at Voldermort's confusion. Dumbledore had once told him that he and Voldermort had a special connection, something that had been born when Voldermort had fallen nearly sixteen years ago, but now the wizard was asking him a question, something which Harry had thought Voldermort would have the answer's to. This raised the question:

_Where the hell has this demon prowling my skull come from?_

No answers came to mind; even this demon that had taken his form and nearly taken Voldermort on a one way trip to oblivion was no where to be felt or heard on the walls of his mind. His body groaned as it swung dismally from side to side on the grime and blood soaked wall.

"Well Potter what is your answer, I want to know." Harry looked at the snake across the room and a smile flicked at his lips. He pulled himself further up the wall so that he wasn't sat amongst the dried blood and excrement any longer before the words passed his lips:

"Not a clue, couldn't tell you if I wanted to which I don't by the way so you might as well kill me death is but the next great adventure after all." He ended with a great sigh and looked back unblinkingly and marvellously into Tom's eyes with a smile of arrogance plastered to his face. Voldermort stared unblinkingly back, undeterred it seemed by Harry's show of arrogance.

"I am not about to kill you Mr Potter not after all the aggravation you have caused me over these past years. I will watch you die of cause but it will be far more painful than you could ever imagine."

The great snake that was Voldermort looked deep into Harry's eyes and Harry felt the pain that threatened to wrench his body apart one last time. But it felt different this time, it was killing him to breathe but it was easier than giving into it. Harry smiled back at Tom with those emerald green eyes he had inherited from his mother and Voldermort shook himself.

"Fine Potter if this is the game you want to play, Crucio." The pain set fire to Harry's body, screeching daggers slashed at his nerves and wild blue electricity fried his mind until he could no longer think clearly and was lost in the anguish of his own screams.

"You will tell me everything you pathetic piece of shit and the end will come." Voldermort hissed above Harry's screams. The slender man left the room with the sixteen year old still screaming in his wake.

Harry only stopped screaming when the last breath had left his lungs and when his throat bled with exhaustion. His face had twisted into something unrecognisable then, and though he had stopped his screaming the pain had not lessened but intensified. It seemed Voldermort was mad with him or one of his servants Harry didn't know which but Voldermort's fury at this stabbed at Harry's head as savagely if not more so than the cruticus curse. He was exhausted and craved for sleep but he knew it would never come Voldermort was too ruthless and it was a miracle he was still alive if nothing else.

Drops of something cooled his body and he felt a slight release of the pain in his head, he felt better. Voldermort's curse had not been lifted though and still bound his body in the tight fist fuck of agony, but it was lesser. He could breathe and see-

He could see that it was not water on his chest but blood, sharp red blood. It stained his torso dripping from his chin, he hadn't been able to feel it from the pain but now he could, it washed his face and bathed his chest. He didn't care it was nice almost pleasant to feel the cool release and if he bled enough he might even die. Harry smiled in spite of himself, he had never been one to hope beyond hope it was selfish and he was anything but. Though it would feel nice to be with his mother, to hear her words once more. Let her hand touch his face and her telling him that everything would be ok, while his father and Sirius took it in turns to scruff up his hair and watch as he tried to flatten it again.

Eventually Harry gave in to his temptations and let the darkness wash over him, it felt good, his first selfish act, maybe his last. The pain grabbed him by the ankles but he laughed it off and shrugged it away, reminding himself that it was what he wanted not what everyone else needed.

He was wide awake standing with his back to his life, as it tormented him from afar, it jeered at him reminding him of all the unselfish people in his life, those that had protected others, those that had died protecting others, and it was here in Voldermort's well of agony that Harry vowed never to be the one that watched as all this shit happened in his life, he would save those he could and if it where still possible he would die with his hand wrapped around the great snakes throat, laughing in his face as the darkness slipped over them both. The pain roared through him screaming at his muscles and flesh to bend the small child make him weak and screaming but Harry laughed it away. Anger coursed through him as he realised what Voldermort was doing, he was torturing him, he had known this of course but it was only now that it truly sank in, if he didn't do something he would die here and it would not be pleasant. He roared and felt the chains around his wrists creak with the effort of trying to restrain him.

"I will not die here!" He screamed, his body threw itself forward in a final attempt to break free. Great chunks of wall broke off behind him crumbling to the floor with a thunderous crash, he stood their for a moment panting with the long chains and shackles dangling from his wrists to the floor squealing about and writhing like huge snakes. Unrestrained power flowed his veins once more and it washed over him, pushing the pain back into the corners of his mind, he breathed deep and looked around the room in fascination. It was charmed with the cructius curse.

"One of Tom's more brilliant ideas." Harry thought to himself. The young man waved a bloodied hand around the room and saw the charm vanish, masked by his stronger one. "Idiot" he thought savagely before blowing the door from its hinges and walking out into the bleak corridor. His body shook slightly in anticipation.

"Come out come out wherever you are." He called mockingly, of course he wasn't stupid enough to let the bastards come at him had they posed any sort of a threat but Bellatrix Lestrange on her own, walking down the other end of a corridor like a moron, was too much an opportunity to pass up. She stopped in her tracks before turning to look at the young wizard. Her eyes seemed to glimmer in the nonexistent light and Harry had to stifle a laugh.

"Did she always look that mocking" He asked himself as she raised her wand. A neon blue light ran the length of the corridor trailing back to its owner's wand. Harry dodged it instinctively and had to lean on the plaster wall as he felt his ribs crunch into his already bruised skin, this was screaming white hot agony now; he couldn't bare to think what it was going to be like when he had rested on them. His lips registered a small o as he realised that she had never intended to hit him head on with the curse, it was lightning. Pure power from a wand, it sparked from his body as it scarred his skin, flashes of white danced among his now burning jeans. His shirt had been stripped from him in the room or in the battle with Voldermort he couldn't remember which all he knew was that he didn't want to watch the way his flesh was boiling and bubbling. The white hot seared his skin and twisted it until it was as charcoal, the woman laughed moving over to face Harry's hooded eyes with her own malicious glinting red ones. He wanted to retch, to throw up all over, the pain was excruciating and unmatchable not even by the crucitcus and it made him snarl and swear vengeance.

"_Let me kill her" _A voice whispered in the back of his skull, it was a twisted voice much like Harry's current form. "_I'll kill her brother; I'll take her soul and leave it with the devil. Just let me play_" Harry's hooded eyes looked at the woman vindictively a final time before glazing over and letting his demon walk the earth once more.

Red and black rained supreme in this monotone of colour. Harry's hand flicked out and wrapped his skinny fingers around the most familiar piece of wood he knew, his wand. It lay in his palm and brought power to its owner. The pain of his burns, his cracked ribs and their throbbing ache the lasting damage from so many years of fighting all seemed to vanish in a swirl of fury. His wand was brought around twisting here and there in complex arcs and spirals. Jets of light exploded across the scene, vivid purples, angry reds and dark yellows all shone and each rushed to its victim.

The woman stood transfixed by the sight of the boy standing so proudly in the corridor even under so much pain. The way his father had always stood so proud she recalled, this was nothing new she had seen the same things before, pain masked by fury and loathing.

Just an adrenaline rush she told herself as she moved and dodged to avoid the oncoming spells. He will die down soon then we will see who is stronger. But the boy did not 'die down' he moved constantly, his body twisting in movement, and dance as his hands worked miracles over magic and it soon became clear who was toying with who in this duel. Harry wasn't even trying it was clear, he could have destroyed the little bitch in front of him at anytime, probably with only the tiniest flicks of his wrist and the softest of muttered spells, but he didn't, even with all his fury he was still in control, every flex of his muscles was done to his command, it seemed that even the corridor in which they now duelled was of Harry's whim.

Finally the older woman stopped dodging and flying around the place and looked Harry dead in the eye, her eyes dropped as did he wand. She was outclassed here, that much she knew, but even James she had been able to best in a duel, and what of Sirius and Remus neither of them could have ever beaten her. But here he was a meagre child with his wand held aloft had beaten her. Her the one who had being taught by the dark lord in the dark arts, it was pathetic and she dreaded to think what her master would say when he found out, not if, it was never a case of if merely when.

"You win Potter" She spat watching as he lowered his wand and hung his head, this was not the face of someone who had just won a moral victory, not even the face of his father or mother. It scared her, what would he do, would he outright kill her, or would he torture her, no surely not, not the Potter boy, not the son of light.

"And just what have I won Bella, have I defeated you, are we enemies, should I want to kill you?" He asked all these things without the smallest hint of emotion in his voice. This confused the woman, she had killed a lot of people in her time, even ore than the dark lord himself, this was her time to pay and yet the boy was- letting her go. It didn't feel right.

A trick she decided, the boy was fooling her to kill her properly honourably or something. Even as she uttered these things in her mind she knew that they weren't true. He could have killed her in the duel without any loss of honour; perhaps he would even have closure finally over his godfather's death and the death of Cedric. She didn't know, how could she the boy was impassive; she wanted to kill him now, to hurt him and make him understand that he wanted to kill her.

"Do I want to kill you Bella?" he repeated breaking the monotonous silence that hung in the corridor. "Do you want to kill me, because if you do here's your chance. I thought your master would do his job, play his role but he's more of a pussy than I first expected. Of course his curses helped me, but not the way you can with your hatred for me, your want to kill me just to prove your worth to snake face" He mocked oaring his wand. Bellatrix was fuming as she stooped for her wand, hatred poured the corners of her mind making her head hazy, turning wrong to right as it had so many times before.

"How dare you insult my master" She screeched. "Avada kedavra"


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

Eyes flickered across a bloodied room that stank of excrement and the tang or rotting human flesh. The walls if they could be called walls, more like the inside of a small cave they where so badly disfigured after Harry's last attempt at freedom, also sang the same tune as the earth, they where spattered with blood and torn pieces of clothing . That had been a couple of days ago the child reminded himself, the death eaters that had come, it was there blood that spattered the walls making them reek. Harry's eyes unfocused and he saw the charms that bound the room, another cruciatus curse bound the wall that was probably the reason his body had been screaming in agony for as long as he could remember. Some anti dissaperation jinxes and finally three good sealing charms that not only blocked the door from view but reinforced the fact that escape would be damn near impossible and that was with a wand. He had found that he could not summon it to him which was mainly obvious because a wand was needed to do this.

But Harry was not one to be deterred and he had not survived the killing curse twice to be held in a room. He closed his eyes and tried to focus his mind on one task at a time rather than spread himself thin, this was the key to his escape. Focus, and focus he did, he focused on that tiny part of him that burned that hated that wanted to be free to roam to burn to destroy and he let it free.

His body arched in the shackles that hung him precariously from the wall as flames formed in his hands and worked their way up his arms and snaked around his body until he was completely engulfed in there power. His hair flared and stood on end as the flames grew and grew, they turned blue and the shackles began to sizzle against his skin. He ignored them and focused instead on taking the door from its hinges. The shackles on his wrists fell to the floor, cracking oddly against the stone. The young man smiled a look of insanity on his young and devious face. He held out an open palm to the huge sealed door, the fire around his arms grew more intense as he focused his power and fireballs spewed forth crashing into the stone and metal. They burned through without compromise and left molten slag dripping through a three meter hole that they had burned through the meter thick substance.

"That was fun" Harry said to himself before picking a tune in his head and walking through the makeshift door whistling blissfully. The flames surrounding his form dissipated entirely leaving only a faint crackling noise and small surges of light. Harry tried to summon his wand once again with an outstretched palm but he honestly didn't expect it to work, he stood in the corridor idly for a moment pondering whether or not the death eaters had heard his explosions. A shrug moved his body, it didn't really matter. If they came he would send them away bleeding and screaming as he had to the previous that had come for him. The memory brought him a swift tell of pleasure.

"Oooh I am dangerous" He whispered softly to himself before moving off down the corridor, he stopped almost instantly when he heard a whistling, he turned to see a long shining thing flying straight at him from the other end of the corridor. He twisted painfully and plucked the thing from the air gazing at it with wonder for a brief moment before a light bulb turned on in his mind and he realised what the thing was- it was his wand. Sleek and smooth glowing a pale blue in the darkness, it shone quite brightly infact enough to light up his features and reveal the thin caking of blood that covered his small form. He pocketed the glowing piece of light and walked down the corridor, still humming his melody as he went.

Shadows roamed in front of him, he could smell their stink and taste their actions as though they where his own, they plagued his mind and made him sick with disgust. His walk was finished in a flash as he crashed across the hallway in a blaze of light. The shadows turned to look a second too late, he had one of their number pinned to the wall with one skinny arm and his wand pointed at the other two.

They where only new recruits but had heard tales of this boy, this demon from their comrades. They spoke of him with fear in their voices, even those of Voldermort's inner circle claimed to have seen the boy maim and torture without so much as a hint of pleasure passing his lips or his eyes. They held as much fear for the skinny child in front of them as they held for the dark lord if not more so, the dark lord only used his magic, but the boy moved like lightning, his hands, his feet and his magic working as one to provide pain to worthy victims. Now he held the first close, his eyes glinting maliciously in the near total darkness, his body flared with power and he saw fear in the one he held. He whispered something in his ear before letting him fall to the floor and kicking him in the face.

The other two brought their wands to bear down upon the boy but he moved even as they fired the first of their charms, his reflexes where excellent, moving like a leopard or some other creature that held a divine grace. He chose his footsteps carefully letting his body furl and unfurl in great strides to bring him ever closer to what he wanted. His arm whipped out with the wand and a flash of silver flew from the tip, it twisted around itself before colliding with one of the men and making him scream in agony for a moment before cuts and lacerations formed across his body. They weren't enough to kill him and would be healed in less than an hour but Harry took a profound pleasure in making the little piece of shit scream at his feet. The other seemed too scared to say or do anything so Harry let him be for the moment.

"Turn back on this life" He said in a hoarse voice that didn't fit his frame or physique and made him seem all the more menacing. "And I won't kill you the next time I see you. Is this understood" The men nodded their heads and disappeared with faint pops but not before they had grabbed the bleeding man from the floor.

The boy smiled in spite of himself before turning his focus to something else, in his mind he had found a problem, where was he to go now that he was free. He could go back to Grimmauld place of that he was sure but he didn't like that place, he never had and he was damn sure that he didn't want to be in the place where Sirius had mainly lived out his life, it would hurt too much.

He pondered where to go for a long time before his answer stood out to him like a sore thumb. He would go home, his home, he would take himself back to Godric's hollow. He could faintly recall how it had felt to be home, the warmth of the carpet, his mother's laughter at his father's stupid and meaningless jokes. He focused his mind completely on the task at hand, to be home, the one place in his life that was truly his. The corridor filled with a huge crack, and Harry Potter was gone in a swirl of silver smoke.

He looked around the room in fascination, it had been nearly fifteen years since he was last here and yet he found himself remembering bits of information. The second from middle bar that squeaked on his crib if he turned it for example or his favourite book being used to prop up the edge of his dresser, of course this was completely unnecessary and had merely been his fathers favourite way of making him giggle. Memory's continued to wash over him as he sank to the floor coiling an arm loosely around the thin bars in his crib. His eyes blurred but he wouldn't allow himself to cry, not here, this was a home of so much strength and power that Harry felt it a dishonour to his family to show any sort of weakness here when both his mother and father had stood so proudly against Voldermort. His vision wandered weakly around the room vaguely remembering items from his childhood until his breath caught in his throat. Staring back at him where his mum and dad, they both held captivating smiles on there faces and both seemed happy to see Harry back.

"Hey son" His father said happily as he pulled his wife close and ran a hand through his messy black hair. Harry couldn't help but smile, he really did look like his dad aside from the hideous scar on his face and his emerald green eyes they where the same person.

"Hey dad" Harry managed to choke out, it was now that he noticed he even sounded like his father, Remus was nearly right when he had said it was almost like having James back again, though Harry privately thought that none could replace the gaping hole his fathers death had left in so many hearts. His eyes began to well up with tears once more as his parents continued to beam their pride down onto the boy.

"How do you know he'll come back here Albus?" Kingsley asked politely though there was a tone of impatience in his voice, one that Dumbledore seemed to ignore as he drew a sherbet lemon from inside his deep purple robes.

"This is the only place that the child ever felt safe" Dumbledore replied as he popped the sweet into his mouth and sucked it quietly. Kingsley watched the man with fascination, he had seen how the boy had destroyed the old mans room at the end of the last term of Hogwarts and then he had seen the destruction of number 4 Privet drive which they could only hope Potter had caused though if he had it presented a problem for the ministry no child was supposed to posses that sort of power.

"No it was death eaters" He told himself quietly "But Potter escaped them, he has a knack for it after all." Albus chose not to here these words, he knew perfectly well that it wasn't death eaters of any kind that had destroyed Harry's home it had all been the boy's doing but how he had come across such power was beyond the realm of rational thought.

"Albus I think that I will go to the study and finish up some reports" The old man nodded and Kingsley took his leave, letting Dumbledore get back to his thoughts of Harry's seemingly new found power.

"Holy shit" Kingsley yelled from the corridor, Albus leapt to his feet to join the young auror. He stared up the long marble staircase to see a shining blue light. Lightning flickered around the blue making it almost translucent, heat seemed to emanate from it like a supernova, and Dumbledore cast a quick charm so that the heat wouldn't be any threat to him or Kingsley.

"Leave" A voice called, Kingsley looked around wildly for its source and years of experience fell away in a second, he was a scared child who couldn't defend himself against this mass of power and it showed in his actions. They way he held himself, he as big a man as a rat now it seemed. But Dumbledore held himself together even though every fibre in his body screamed for him to turn and run.

"What are you?" Dumbledore yelled, his voice held a quivering note that even he had never heard of himself before, it sounded odd like he had just reduced himself in someway. He held his wand at the figure but even the great man felt that he couldn't do anything to stop it if he attacked.

"I am Harry Potter" The voice said quietly but both men heard it clear as day. It was their charge; he had come back to his home just as Albus had predicted he would. The huge mass of power began to walk down the stairs, flickers of white jumped from his body and connected with the banisters which abruptly set on fire.

"Holy shit, that thing is fire!" Kingsley screamed, he pulled his wand up and huge blasts of water erupted from the tip, Dumbledore soon followed though his blasts where slightly larger. The ball of fire continued down the stairs and the water evaporated before it could touch the flickering white flames. Dumbledore felt his shield being pushed and had to quickly reinforce it, but even this didn't help. Dumbledore's shield charm fell and both Kingsley and the old man felt the full brunt of the flames intensity. Dumbledore was slammed against the wall by some invisible force As Kingsley stood by helpless.

"Don't ever come to my home again" Harry said, his voice was impassive and held no tone, this scared Kingsley more than if the boy had screamed, their was nothing, no way to play to his emotions to subdue him nothing. Dumbledore quailed but held his body firm against the wall; it hadn't hurt him in the slightest to be thrown against the plaster. In fact it had cracked with his weight and now he stood there quite content to lean against it.

The ball of fire fell away leaving a smoking Harry Potter behind, he held his arm outstretched and kept Dumbledore bound with very little energy, he watched as if in slow motion Kingsley pulled his wand on him yet again. Words formed on his lips but Harry would not allow himself to be put down again. He moved down the rest of the stairs as a blur of light, power radiated from him in bursts and even as he reached the towering figure it was thrown from its feet by one such surge. Kingsley fell as the bolt of light blasted from his wand. It blew a gaping hole into the wall; Harry snarled his fury at the older man and pulled his wand from his jeans pocket. The killing curse ran through his mind but he pushed it away, he would not become a murderer so easily. Kingsley shook against the wall, and Dumbledore stood next to him still bound by a huge invisible fist. It didn't take the old man very long to undue the spell and he was free to throw spells again, but Kingsley was a different matter. The force of Harry's power surges and the manic gleam in his eyes seemed to have reduced the man, his auror skills had been thrown away against a child.

"Now Harry you have every reason to be upset but you must understand that we always did it in your best interests." Dumbledore said fluidly, years of dealing with children had taught him nothing it seemed as the boys anger flared again and bolts of power flashed across the room to collide with the adjoining walls. The auror on the floor flinched when one such bolt crashed into the wall not an inch from his face.

"It was never in my interests only your own you selfish bastard" Harry said coldly, Dumbledore flinched, of course it was true. He had always used Harry as a weapon he had made him what he was right now, the powerful thing that stood before them was a direct result of what the old man had accomplished in his lifetime. He had built the perfect soldier and all it had taken was three of his family to die, he privately agreed with himself that it was all for the best after all the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few.

"That's not the way it works, you stupid fucker" Harry growled, for Dumbledore to think that his family had deserved to die so that many could live; it didn't sit right with Harry. Nobody deserved to die in cold blood to be murdered by another.

"Of course not Harry" Dumbledore said as he moved towards the boy with his wand held at his side. The man looked at him, his eyes burning once more, he would not allow the world to fall to pieces like this, in the arms of two powerful men who both wanted it to work their way. Dumbledore flicked his wand at Harry who breathed in deep bracing himself, it didn't do anything, no bolt of light, and no being knocked from his feet nothing. He breathed out, releasing his held in breath to see a think plume of smoke leave his lungs.

"Another of your parlour tricks Dumbledore" Harry asked, his voice held boredom though not a touch of fear. Another breath left his lungs and clouded the air making it hard to see his adversaries, he smiled this was defiantly a good parlour trick. He could still sense the old man from his abundance of power but the cloud of smoke defiantly made it harder to curse him successfully.

"Yes my boy and one at your expense I am afraid" The old man almost whispered before a soft pop met Harry's ears, the air behind him shifted and he felt the expansion of power surge the air once more.

"Protego" The boy murmured, he felt a wordless spell hit his back. The shield of his stopped the brunt of it and he laughed as the wash of sleep fell over him and he dusted it off easily.

"Now Dumbledore you wouldn't be trying to take me somewhere would you" Harry asked as he waved his wand in an arc, a purple wave of light spread from it clearing the air of the grey smoke. Dumbledore looked at the boy of his with shock and amazement on his face; he had defiantly learned a lot while he was away from his home. The old man waved his wand in a flurry and spells shot out all aimed directly at Harry's chest. The child moved easily out of the way of Dumbledore's spells that collide with a horrible crunch against Kingsley, Harry hid a snigger as he continued to move, preventing Dumbledore from cursing him or from healing Kingsley.

"See now Harry, we have to be off we have an appointment to keep." The moment the last word escaped Dumbledore's mouth Harry stopped moving. The boy stood stone still as if staring his mentor down, he didn't understand that this year no meddling on his part would change Harry. He had learned far more than had ever been expected of him, he would fulfil his prophecy if nothing else. He didn't even give a shit if he came out on top or not, with all the lies that had encompassed his life it didn't matter either way. If he failed, well the world was just getting it's payback after all.

"I'm not going anywhere Dumbledore, not this time. I have lost too much to stupid ill conceived plans and I will not allow any more to suffer for my mistakes." Harry said in a monotone, he still held his wand but his eyes where vacant as if he where trying to push off some foreign demon that had invaded him and robbed him of a priceless possession. Dumbledore saw this as his chance and waved his wand with a fluid grace that only he and two others possessed. Harry was caught off guard and flung into the wall hitting it with a sickening thud. The caked blood on his body was cleansed away with fresh that leaked from newly opened wounds along his arms as well as one on his head. "Well done old man, if you don't like a persons actions you force them around with big boy magic. When I next see you we'll see who really plays the bully in this school yard." Harry whispered before he promptly passed out, his bleeding head cracking further on the hard stone floor.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A gentle mumble brought Harry from his magic educed slumber. He rolled over in place feeling the days old blood on his skin squelch uncomfortably, his skin plastered itself to the floor and the boy who lived was about to moan when another murmur interrupted him. His eyes snapped open and he quickly took in his surroundings, a large white room sparsely decorated with a single extremely long desk that held at least twelve people along its width. He stood from the floor, a crunch issuing from his bones that made several of these people visibly flinch as he pulled out his wand and aimed it directly at the man who sat in the centre of this desk.

"Afternoon." Harry said pleasantly though his tone of voice was cold and his fake exuberance of words never extended to his eyes. "Care to tell me where I am and what the fuck I'm doing here?"

The member of this assorted little group that Harry held his wand to, had visibly paled and his eyes where fixed upon the slender piece of wood in his hand that held a slight green glow not unlike that of the killing curse. A quick glance at the room would have told anyone that Harry wasn't playing games here; he fully intended to kill the man in front of him and move to the next if he didn't get his answers.

"You are here, Mr. Potter, you are here at my request." The man said while trying to hold himself in some sort of composure under the gaze of the startling 15 year old. Some of the other members looked at Harry with anger in their eyes and one had even gone as far as to remove his wand, albeit discreetly from his pocket and now held it under the table.

"Put the wand away" Harry said without missing a beat, the man looked around for the culprit trying with his might to look like one of the others while still gripping his wand tightly. Harry was in a bad mood which reflected from his shining red torso into his shining emerald eyes, he flicked his wrist and a blast of wind rippled through the room as the man was knocked from his feet and slammed into the wall behind him, his wand effectively thrown from him in his very brief flight. Not a muscle changed on his face, no smile crossed his lips no right of self worth nothing. "Why am I here?" He repeated still quite calmly although it seemed to be taking his a lot of his self control not to scream and shout or curse every living thing in the room.

"We are the Council of elders" The man began falling into his role as chief of this council if he so wished to call it. "We wish to ask you where you have been Mr. Potter, as we understand it the wards placed around your home where destroyed shortly before you went missing. How is it that this happened?" The man spoke honestly and not without an air of Dumbledore about him that Harry couldn't help feel unseated by. The young man removed his wand from the air and returned it to his pocket, he didn't feel it a necessity to hold the man under the glow of an Avada Kedavra and he didn't want to become a murderer before he had to that was never his plan. A concerned look passed over some faces when Harry sank to the floor and crossed his legs, it must have seemed odd to them, for him to take in a meditative position but to him it felt completely natural, as though he had been doing it for millennia.

"The wards around Number four Privet drive failed when I tore that house down with fire." Harry said with his eyes closed and with a look of utter complacence upon his face. He felt the air around him shift as some of the members moved uncomfortably in their seats, he remained impassive but not oblivious to their actions. Harry had become very adept to his surroundings while he was being tortured, it was a primitive skill but one that had to be learned to be effective, Harry was astoundingly skilled at it and it was this skill that had allowed him to sense rather than see the man draw his wand under the table.

"Then may we ask Mr. Potter where have you been until today?" The old man asked. Harry didn't even open his eyes as he contemplated an answer.

"I was with Lord Voldermort." Harry said after several moments, the women at the table gasped but the men, several of which who had fought in the first war against the Dark Lord rose to their feet and drew their wands upon the young man.

"You traitor" One screamed at him in a voice made hoarse with age. The other members nodded their heads in agreement as thoughts flashed through their minds at how best to deal with someone that had sold them out.

"He tortured me." Harry said in a cold monotone. The man's wand dropped as did the others and a silent O formed upon his face. He bowed his head as he attempted to mutter apologies none of which Harry heard, his mind was too distracted with thoughts of those that had come to plague him and mock his form as he dangled skinny and beaten against that wall.

"Mr. Potter we apologize for the rash action of Mr. Lange but you must understand that in times of war one can never be too careful." Here Harry nodded his head in agreement that their was no harm done and that he also felt the same way. "May we aske which curses where used on you, it may help in the future."

"The cruciatus, a few bone breaking curses, fire oh there was a lot of fire." He said with a smile gracing his lips as he remembered what he had done when the flames had wrapped themselves like snakes around his arms.

"Thank you Mr. Potter." The old man said looking at Harry with admiration plastered onto his face and a twinge of what appeared to be guilt in his eyes. "Now we have some good news for you as well. The council has come to an agreement, before this meeting started, that we would like to train you. Your magical arts have greatly impressed us and we wish to see which of your talents remain undiscovered."

Some of the other members nodded their agreement while others just listened on as the man talked. Harry was one of the latter. Once again he felt so left out of all the decisions in his life, but then the man said words which Harry had thought he would never here.

"Of course this is your choice Mr. Potter but I am sure that you can see the benefit training would give you." Harry looked at the man; his eyes registered the shock and the implications of what he had just said. He was free to make his own decision without it being forced upon him. He smiled a long smile that extended to his eyes for the first time in months.

"I accept your offer. Thank you very much for this opportunity. Is their anything else I should know before I leave, I have some things that need attention as you can see." Harry waved a hand over his body indicating that he was going to seek medical attention and possibly a shower to wash away the dried blood that encompassed his body making it hard to move.

"There is just one more thing Mr. Potter, I would like to inform you that you are recognized as the best person on this earth at Defence Against the Dark Arts. You exceeded Professor Dumbledore's score of 94 with your own of 107 we where very much impressed." Harry looked at the man, surely this was a joke. It was a given that DADA was perhaps his best subject but to be the best on earth, that was a lot to live up to. Then again he wasn't the boy-who-lived for nothing. His eyes flashed across the room searching for anyway that this was a joke. One that he didn't get but a joke none the less. Perhaps they would all scream April fools.

"You're joking right?" Harry asked hopefully. The members of the council all shook their heads. The young man suddenly felt a feeling of nausea rise within him but he forced it away urging himself to make eye contact with the council. "But I can't possibly, I don't know all the spells the counter curses the-"

"Harry" The old man said holding up a hand to stop the boy's ramblings. "We have all seen your talent, your courage and the ability you have of thinking clearly in difficult circumstances. We have seen you slay the basilisk, everything. You are most deserving of this Mr. Potter; you are all ready a great man and you can only rise further." A woman on his right nodded in agreement as did the huge man on his left. Harry was shocked, they where looking onto him as equals with respect. The assortment of the most powerful wizards and witches on earth where giving him praise, he was astounded.

"Thank you, I will do my best to make you all proud." Harry gave a short bow before turning on his heel and making to leave while all of the council watched him go. The woman on the mans right behind him looked to her leader who gave her a brief nod as answer; she stood and walked out of the doors in Harry's wake.

Harry stood above the ground, a thing he had not done since Hermione Granger had had him imprisoned under the torture of Lord Voldermort and his followers. The young man gave a throaty growl before winds kicked up around his dark and bloodied form. He did not scream, if he hadn't while he was under the cruciatus why start now, everything seemed so pointless. The inefficiency of wizards and witches to come to his aide, the lack of Dumbledore even bothering to look for him and then having the nerve to stay in his home without request. He wanted his revenge on that old man, and with God as his witness he swore it would come. These where the people that he was supposed to save and now all he felt for them was anger and hatred.

_How can you save a world you don't believe in? _He pondered idly as he basked in that sunshine that burned his retina. He looked around wherever he was; he had never asked during the meeting with the council it hadn't seemed important. Even now as he looked out across the sea of people all wearing colorful robes he didn't care where he was, it was irrelevant.

"H... hey, Harry" A voice called from behind him. He turned sharply, drawing his wand as he spun and pressed it against the woman's throat. "Whoa kid, calm down. Name's Katherine, I'm going to be the one training you." Harry didn't lower his wand; instead he pressed it tighter against the woman's throat to a point where if he pressed any harder he would have pierced the flimsy skin protecting her wind pipe.

"Don't call me kid." He snarled in a voice laced with hatred and cast in ice. "I haven't been a kid in a long time." He lowered the wand and stowed it safely away in his front pocket. His hand grazed against the rough skin of his body and he realized that it still hadn't healed properly since Bellatrix had burnt him with the lightening. A flash of pain burnt his body in a way the cruiciatus curse could never replicate, he would have screamed there as well but he had been tortured for far too long to let little things such as this bother him.

"You know Harry some of those cuts and stuff look pretty bad; maybe we should get someone to heal them. I never was particularly good at healing charms perhaps-" She was cut off as the boy's body glowed an obscure golden color and the marks across his chest receded away leaving some very distinct new scars that added to the ferocity of his older ones. He stood there; proud for a moment that he didn't have to rely on someone else's help to keep him safe. Katherine stared at him; he had just performed some astoundingly complex healing charms without his wand, wordlessly and without batting an eyelash.

When the council had told her what the boy was capable of she had scoffed, now it all seemed so much more plausible. Though she still seriously doubted that a mere boy could defeat a basilisk when they where all but extinct and some of the greatest wizards in history had trouble with them even when they where assisted. According to Dumbledore he hadn't used a spell, only a blade forged by Godric Gryffindor himself, she had heard the Gryffindor blade lost through the years or worse destroyed.

"Harry" She asked throwing caution to the wind. "Have you killed a basilisk?" The man turned to face her, an indignant scowl held on his face that expressed his disdain for that particular memory.

"Yes I have and before you ask I used the sword of Gryffindor to do it. I was twelve and I really couldn't think of any spells that would kill a basilisk at that time." Katherine marveled at the boy, he certainly was an astounding specimen to say the least. He had killed a basilisk at the tender age of twelve and had then gone on to face you-know-who five times without dying, he had survived the killing curse, he was the youngest person ever to successfully perform a patronus charm, he was the single best person on this planet at Defense Against the Dark Arts and yet he seemed so down to earth. Not high and mighty like the council members or Dumbledore, but like a kid who actually gave a shit about the rest of the world.

"So your training me." He said without expression. His voice wasn't cold as it could have been but nor was it as pleasant as it could have been. Katherine didn't say anything, she was still reeling from everything this boy had done, even in her own mind it seemed like it was a joke, but now as he stood here it seemed all the more plausible. "Well then, it's time to go." He said suddenly, Katherine's head snapped around to face him.

"And just where are we going?" The young woman asked puzzled. Surely it was her job to tell him where to go and he was supposed to follow her not the other way around. Harry gave a short chuckle in response. He would have thought it obvious as to where they were going.

"Diagon Alley of course." He said with a grin before dissaparating silently in a flash of roaring black flames. Katherine stared at the spot he had vanished from for a long while before coming to her senses and apparating to Diagon Alley.

Banners hung the width of Diagon Alley blaring it in the Gryffindor colours, much to the obvious distaste of several Slytherins that walked the street occasionally glancing up to scowl at such vivid colour. Harry on the other hand stood in the middle of the street having just appeared in a ball of flame, he looked up at the banners several of which depicted Dumbledore standing over Voldermort with his wand raised. As much as he hated the old man he couldn't help but feel somewhat inspired by those pictures.

"The people see Dumbledore as a light in the darkness, Harry, it is good to see them out in force such as this don't you agree?" Harry nodded dumbly, it was indeed good to see so many people out in the street but memories of the Department of Mysteries kept flooding back to him and he was having a hard job allowing himself t be happy when all he could think about was Sirius' death. "Come now, we have to see the goblins." Katherine walked on ahead of him and Harry followed two or three steps behind her. His head hung low and eyes fixed firmly on the ground and yet he managed to avoid all the occupants of the Alley.

He vaguely registered that they walked into Gringotts but ignored anyone and everything after that. Katherine didn't say anything to him, it was obvious what he needed was space, he was a boy who didn't need a shoulder to cry on or someone to wipe away his tears when he was done. He hadn't had one all his life and it would be callous to offer one now. They walked for a while longer until they came into a big room, inside where chairs and people. Harry took no notice of any of them and sat down, feeling out who was there by the different auras.

"I Sirius Black conduct my will in a sane state of mind and without my hand being forced; I work freely and of my own will." The goblin stated, obviously jumping in at the deep end for lack of another way to begin. "I leave my pranking material to the twins Fred and George who I hope will do everything in there power to make sure they live on. I leave a collection of books to Ginny Weasley on the subject of vanity spells, yes I saw you looking at them. I leave my stock investments to the Chudley Cannons in the possession of Ron Weasley. I leave a cure to my dear friend Remus Lupin may it give you the freedom you deserve. To Molly and Arthur Weasley I leave 10,000 galleons and my thanks for what you have done for Harry. To all of the previously mentioned I also leave 2,000 galleons, spend it wisely. And finally to Harry James Potter I leave my homes, the rest of my fortune and the title of head of the Black family household. I am sorry to place this burden on you but I don't want Lucius to have it and I know you shall do me proud. I also leave the rest of my books, even those that are of the Dark Arts, learn them Harry. Dumbledore will tell you not to, but I have, as did your father, we where both purebloods and so are you. Do me proud."

The goblin finished and Harry rose from his seat, he waved a hand quickly through the air and a deep blood red robe appeared on his skin, the hood low as to obscure his face from view. The young man strode across to the goblin and held out a hand, into which three bunches of keys where dropped.

"The keys for the Black houses as well as those of Potter and Gryffindor." The small goblin said slowly and quietly so that the others present would not hear him. Harry bowed his head and walked from the room, keys jingling in his pocket as he strode past his friends without stopping to say hey. Katherine followed without complaint as the boy lead her out of Gringotts and through the shops that Diagon Alley offered.

Ron could only stare in disbelief as a man did wand less magic in his presence. It was one thing to do word less magic but wand less that was in a league of its own. Up there with Dumbledore and Voldermort. He couldn't help but scowl, why was it always him that was without the power, without the money and without the girl that he deserved. It was all Harry's fault he decided only vaguely aware of what that intoned, yes it was, all Harry's fault, without him in the picture he would have had Hermione long ago as well as all the glory that Harry got day and night.

"Ron come on it's time to go" Ginny said softly, she walked on ahead of him and Ron followed in a daze. Hermione by his side, both of them lost deep in there own thoughts until Ron stopped suddenly and pulled the girl around to face him.

"Listen Hermione, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and well this might come as a shock to you but I think I like you and err…well would you like to be my girlfriend." It came as a shock to Ron as well, he had thought that his words would come out sounding twisted and wrong but they didn't. He had actually asked Hermione out. She stared at him for a long moment as though thinking it over.

"Ron." She said with a blush slowly forming on her cheeks. "I've liked you for the longest time and I would love to be your girlfriend." She pulled him into a tight hug which Ron returned equally as tight before looking up at him and offering a smile. He smiled back, his lips offering that ever enticing Weasley charm. He lent down and for the briefest of instants their lips touched and a world of pain and deception fell away.


End file.
